The Story

For their 10th wedding anniversary Tim & Cote Soerens were spending some rare quiet time together in Mexico. Late Saturday night [6/24/17] they were hit head on by an apparent drunk driver and were hospitalized in serious condition. The driver came at them with his lights off and they had no time to react or swerve.

Tim came out of surgery early Sunday morning and was stabilized. Cote may be going in for surgery today and has 6 broken ribs and possible internal bleeding. [Update: Cote has a serious spinal injury and requires urgent surgery in the US. See below for more updates.]

Their boys Lukas & Joaquin are home in Seattle with grandparents.

Cote & Tim have dedicated their lives to helping so many different people and communities and are always working to make the world a better place. Please consider supporting them in this time of need.

One of the biggest stresses in these kind of emergencies is how to pay for all the out of pocket expenses that stack up. So working with family members we are launching this crowdfunding page to help support them in the long process of recovery.

Thank you for your support.

(Please share)

(YouCaring only takes out the standard credit card processing fees and otherwise 100% of your gift will go directly to Tim & Cote Soerens to aid them in the long recovery process. Donations are very secure on this site and mobile giving is quite simple.)

Check below in the comments and Updates for more information. Here is the initial post on Facebook that rallied this amazing community support:

3am 6/25/17:

URGENT - Tim & Cote were just in a serious car accident in Mexico (late Saturday night). The kids are in Seattle with grandparents and are ok. Please pray and pass this on to others who know them.

I spoke with Cote briefly on the phone and she was stable but has some injuries. She said they were hit by a drunk driver who came straight at them with lights off and in the wrong lane.

Tim is in serious condition and was going into surgery about 1:30am (Sunday 6/25). I haven’t heard any more updates yet.

Hopefully Cote or another family member will be able to post updates later today.

Please tag others who know them and please send your prayers and healing thoughts to them both. Thank you,

Fundraiser Updates

Posted on August 2, 2017

Posted on August 2, 2017

It’s somewhat difficult to believe it’s now been just over a month since the accident in Mexico. Cote and I have been home now for a few weeks and are settling to this season of recovery. With rented hospital beds in our living room, a steady stream of friends and neighbors caring for us, and Cote’s Mom coming all the way from Santiago, Chile to care for sweet baby Joaquin, we continue to give thanks for the powerful fabric of care that has surrounded us.

We also wanted to thank each and every one of you. Our energy level has been getting better with each passing day and now have increasing capacity to thank each of you more personally and directly, but for now we want you to know that while this has been a painful journey, we have also discovered a depth of gratitude we have never experienced before.

To be truly grateful might be our highest priority as a family, so a special thanks to each of you for helping us live into the kind of people we most want to be.

Posted on July 6, 2017

Posted on July 6, 2017

From Cote today at the hospital:

“Just wanted to share this thing that happened this morning. I got to be with the boys and cuddle with them a bit longer. My mobility has increased dramatically in the past two days after a little surgery we did yesterday.

I cannot stress enough the impact of your love and prayers in our recovery. We are able to focus on little steps each day because of your love. Thank you for journeying with us through this. The path ahead is long but lighter because of you.”

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Thank you all so much for your incredible support for Cote & Tim over this past week or so. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 days since that late night phone call. They are healing at what I consider to be an incredible rate. We were able to get them outside on the 4th of July for a mini-picnic at the hospital grounds with Cote's mother Beatriz, Lukas and myself. Tim's mom had visited earlier with Joaquin as well.

It was so beautiful to see them smiling and soaking up some much needed vitamin D. We hope to have more news about their potential release date soon and have started a Meal Train page if you'd like to support on a local level in the coming weeks as they recover. Kim Burgess, Hayden Smith and Sean Dimond have been helping onsite a lot, and so many others helping at the house and with other needs. Special thanks to Julia Marquand who’s been an amazing support in South Park. So many more to thank including Jeff, Lora, Karen, and many more.

While Tim & Cote haven't had the energy yet to send out thank-you's directly here, they are eager to be in touch more directly so stay tuned for more notes from them via Facebook and email. Below is an update from family friend Sean Dimond as well.

This #FabricofCare has been inspiring to witness and I find myself already thinking of ways to pass it on to more people in need.

sincerely,

-Nathan Marion

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Update 7/5/17 via Sean Dimond:

"Tim and Coté have been overwhelmed with the outpouring of support that has come in from friends and family all over the country and beyond. Your beautiful response has lifted them with hope, tears, and healing.

They have finally had time to assess the medical and financial repercussions, and we’ve raised the fundraising goal as a result. It’s taken time to figure this out because they’ve had to focus first on the urgent medical crisis. Their injuries are complex.

Tim and Cote have been told that it will be (approx) a full year before they are healed and back to normal. They did not have travelers insurance and had to pay for emergency surgeries and hospital time in Mexico; they will miss a considerable amount of work; and there are a wide range of identified needs and costs to bear over the coming months. And so this fundraising goal is what they need to manage this crisis over the next 6 months.

Many of you have already given — in many ways — and if not a single dollar more comes in, it’s simply the case that your love expressed to date has been overwhelming, and profoundly helpful.

Tim and Cote have said again and again that they wish everyone could be so blessed to have a community like this. Every act of love is an act of healing.

And you KNOW that as they heal, their own commitment to help extend the fabric of care to everyone they meet will be undaunted."

-Sean Dimond (family friend who's been with them in the hospital many nights here in Seattle)

Posted on July 1, 2017

Posted on July 1, 2017

Hello everyone, I'm sitting in the waiting room up here on the 7th floor at Harborview. It's been a really beautiful evening, an amazing sunset, and some wonderful moments with Tim & Cote. Apologies for the lack of official updates here, we've been posting more on Twitter and the Facebook group now as we move into the recovery phases. Below are a few updates we can share today. Thank you again for all your amazing support! See below for links to other ways of helping.

NEWS:Big thanks to KIRO & KOMO for airing such tasteful stories on TV this week. That's been a huge boost. Find links to those stories via the new Twitter account we setup. https://twitter.com/helpTimCote

Friday 6:30p Pacific (via Sean Dimond) - Health Update

“they both made good progress today. Cote just came back to the room after her third successful surgery -- this one to repair three crushed toes. She is still in pain -- esp from her broken ribs. The big progress for Tim today is intestinal... they removed his intubation tube which is huge. No firm word on release. Cote at least 2 weeks and Tim maybe sometime next week. It really is a day at a time w small goals for each day. Continued focus will be on nutrition, slowly slowly ramping up real food and fluid intake, etc.”

Friday night (Tim’s Birthday Party), 7:30-9pm

Tim, Cote, Lukas, Joaquin were able to celebrate with a room full of guests including family members and friends. We all gowned up in blue plastic gowns and gloves and crowded in their room for a little champagne toast and cupcakes.

Tim & Cote were in super good spirits and looking amazingly healthy. They were admiring the beautiful Seattle sunset from their room windows and connecting with friends. Tim’s mother Jane said they always have candles so I made sure we had something to celebrate with even though the nurses said we couldn’t light them. Lukas and I held a red LED bike light flashing against the candle and we all sang happy Birthday together, then Tim “blew out” the candle.

Cote: “I’m so grateful for all the love & support. For the opportunity to appreciate life more fully. We just had a glorious birthday party for Tim in our room. (Cupcakes, champagne, and at least looked at some bottle of beers). Amidst dietary restrictions, recovery from surgery, and literal pain in the butt, probably the most special birthday to see Tim alive and enjoying his children and the love of family and friends. Hashtag #blessed :-) “

[Tim was getting sleepy after a fun birthday party and I asked him a few questions while the nurses were helping Cote prepare for sleep. ]

TIM: “We’ve been so grateful for all the help from the incredible staff here [at Harborview].

We feel like hour by hour and day by day we’re making progress. [Sounds like surgeries are completed for now. Cote can eat solid food, Tim hopes to tomorrow.]

But the truth is that what this accident has revealed, is that what matters most to us is essentially, relationships with the people we love. Since we feel like we’ve been surrounded by the people we love, even people in Cabo, and the team mobilizing around us to get us from Cabo Mexico back to Seattle.

We’ve never experienced this kind of trauma. Not being able to walk, not able to do basic daily tasks. And while the surgeries are over, we’ve been beginning to feel the weight of the new season we are in. “ [Nurses then had to do some things and Tim was getting sleepy so we will continue this another day.]

[Lukas did super well at the birthday, making giant cards with friends, helping to decorate the room, blowing up balloons, etc. Joaquin just kept smiling his giant world changing smilie, and wanting to chew on things.]

MORE INFO:

We are mobilizing more help if you want to get involved, check out the Facebook group or Google form. Thank you all!-Nathan

(Visiting hours are planned 10a-12p only unless arranged via the care team/family or with Cote/Tim directly. They really need their rest but love seeing people so the we want to help balance this out. Thank you! The room is pretty small so if you are considering plants/flowers please keep them compact. Sign the art papers that Lukas put up before you leave of course.)